Bitumount is designated a Provincial Historic Resource.

Upgrading in 1948

Initially, proponents of the demonstration plant at Bitumount called for the construction not only of a separation plant, but of a refinery as well. The oil produced by the separation plant had limited uses and low monetary value. A refinery, it was argued, could transform this liability into an asset by breaking the oil down into useful and saleable products that could support the continued operation of the plant.

Unfortunately, the budget allocated to the Bitumount project by the Government of Alberta was insufficient to cover the construction of the hoped-for coking plant, and the request was rejected in July 1946. The final plans for the plant did, however, include a very simple refinery component comprised of a heater, a flash chamber and a fractionating tower. This set-up allowed for the excess water in the bitumen to be removed, and the heaviest components

—the asphaltenes—to be separated from the oil. The resulting lighter fractions of the oil were re-used in the separation process to dilute the oil so that it would float on top of the water. Karl Clark noted, in 1947, that

the refinery, as matters now stand, is an absolute minimum. It will give us back our diluents. It will not do much to the asphalt bottoms and we will be drowned in the stuff. If everything works well, we may get a coking unit and go into business supplying diesel and fuel oils down river. I hope this happens and that the little plant keeps running indefinitely as a base for further progress.

His hopes were not realised. No additional refining facility was added to the plant, it did not generate any saleable products, and it was finally closed down permanently in 1958.